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Fraternal twins can be hereditary and it does sound like your girlfriend has it in her family. If she is a fraternal twin, she has a 1 in 17 chance of fraternal twins herself.

If twins are that rampant in her family, I would count on twins...I think when you factor her being a twin herself, and her sister having them her chances may very well be a lot higher than 1 in 17. My great great grandmother had three sets of twins -- I just had twin boys, my first pregnancy. I have a cousin on that same side of the family who is 31 weeks pg with twins now, she has two older children...and we are both well under 30 and not tall or large.

If she wasn't a twin, then you have a 3 in 100 chance so her chances do go up quite a bit, but I wouldn't say you can count on twins. Her mother isn't a twin but her aunts are, so you can see that is isn't all the time. It all depends on if she had inherited the gene that makes her ovulate more than one egg during a cycle and if she has, your sperm has to fertilize both.

If one has a fraternal twin herself OR a sister with twins, I believe the chances are about 1 in 4 for multiples. These chances go up if you are very young or over 35, tall, overweight, african american, etc. Of course, these chances are a__suming there are no fertility issues. I'm not sure where the 1 in 17 statistics came from, or whether or not it includes the offspring of twins conceived through the use of fertility drugs, but in my family and other multiples families I have known -- the chances are a loooot higher than 1 in 17 if its running all through your family.

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actully your odds with no twins in the direct maternal line is 1 in 89 of spontaenous twins. If you or your mother or grandmother has twins it is ONLY 1 in 17....and the site says in may not be that high. IT does NOT go up with other factors in conjunction of the direct maternal line. Where did you get the 1 in 4 stat? Here is a link to the 1 in 17 one: http://multiples.about.com/cs/funfacts/a/oddsoftwins_2.htm

I got my info from a lot of different sites but they all said the same thing, 1 int 17 chance or higher. Now, you have already had a set of fraternal twins, your chances are 1 in 12. I have been pregnant with one set and lost them. Thought it was a fluke. Now I have a set that are toddlers and keep me on my feet. Since I have already had two sets of fraternal twins, my chances of another set are extremely high so I had my tubes tied. I am still scared every month that it came undone! LOL!

To-to amasu. Were you registered before and can have multiple names or are you stuck with the "to amasu" name? Oh, and thanks for info.

to onetwothree....I register with twins4us so I have no idea why the name came out like that.

twins4us, that was you?? LOL! That is weird.

Actually, people mistakenly believe that multiples travels down only through the maternal line. I understand where the confusion comes from. Yes, hyperovulation can only be accomplished by a female, naturally....but fathers can pa__s down this genetic trait to their daughters. If you think about the belief of it "only traveling through the maternal line" it really isn't even logical....more of like an old wive's tale or maybe just confusion based on a fact. My *paternal* great grandmother had 3 sets of twins out of 8 total pregnancies. One of her twin daughters had a set of twins(1st and only pregnancy for her). One of her sons had a daughter who had twins(also, first and only pregnancy for her). But "one in four" is the odds I estimate just through my own calculations. If the "1 in 17" were fact, I don't think we'd have so many sets as most of the women in my family have 0 to 3 pregnancies...I also don't think my family is particularly exceptional when it comes to multiples, judging from others I have known or heard about, we are pretty average. I'd like to know where about.com got their information.

amasu, you are correct that the gene CAN be pa__sed to a dd from the father, BUT statistically that does NOT increase your odds as much as if it is on your maternal line. Maybe in your family that is so, but as I tell my students there is a huge difference in empirical evidence...data that is collected and factors are isolated and controlled and antedotal evidence...ppl personal experiences. The national mother of twins organization HAS studied frat twinning extensively and their data says 1 in 17 if it is on your maternal line....NOT an old wives tale. I'd like to see YOUR research sites on the subject not just your personal experience. As far as your family being exceptional...well statistically if it were 1 in 4 as you state there would be a heck of a lot more frat twins w/o the benefit of fert meds. Spontaneous twinning is still 1 in 89 if no meds are used.

I would dearly love to a link to some reputable research to provide at least some validity to your statement "you are correct that the gene CAN be pa__sed to a dd from the father, BUT statistically that does NOT increase your odds as much as if it is on your maternal line." Without even picking it apart, this sounds completely absurd. Can you name any other genetic trait that generally just "comes down" either the male or female side of one's family? I am not a genetics major, but I did take college biology and I have learned enough to know that genetics do not work this way. As far as I can tell, no studies have been done specifically on families carrying this trait, so there no official *doc_mented* statisics that exist to list for you. Notwithstanding, the "1 in 89" stat is out of *total* births, regardless of twin history in any given family. For some families, the fraternal twinning rate is more like 1 in 300 and for other families more like 1 in 4. The "male side" of genetics are every bit as viable as the "female side"...

The father can pa__s on the gene to his daughter to conceive fraternal twins. Twins4us is just stating that it is more dominant in the maternal side. The OP asked for his chances and based from all the studies done over the years, the world average of twins born to a fraternal mom is 1 in 17 not 1 in 4. Just like the world average for some cancers may be 1 in 8 but for some families, it may be 1 in 2 and in other the risk is a lot less, depending on genetics, geography, exposure, lifestyle, etc. If the poster gave us more information, we might have been able to go further about the chances but as it stands, the all around chance with the mother being a fraternal twin herself, to conceive twins is 1 in 17.

well I only know what I have researched and every site I have read said that the paternal line isn't as strong. the following I pulled off some sites: "Fraternal twinning can be hereditary through the maternal line. There is some belief that it may also carry through the paternal line, but this has not been proven" http://mypage.direct.ca/c/csamson/multiples.html "Furthermore, the increased chance of twinning seems to be entirely a property of the mother, not the father" http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=00083E45-8E7F-1CD1-B4A8809EC588EEDF